It happened with three minutes to go in the second quarter. Somebody flipped the switch and suddenly the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to return to being the great defensive team their coach demands them to be. And a few minutes later, this game was over, and the wine and gold took a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Early on, it looked like the same Cavs that played in the second and third games of the series. Yes, they did try to establish the Shaquille O’Neal inside before he picked up two fouls, but they were taking an excess of three point shots. The Bulls do not have anyone who should frighten potential drivers away, but the Cleveland was jacking away from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers were in the game, but it didn’t look good for the good guys.
Then, the Cavs decided to play defense. They contested every jump shot. They had hands in the face of Bulls looking to pass. They switched men in order to keep Derrick Rose out of the paint. And they started rebounding with verve, limiting the Bulls to one shot.
With three minutes left, Rose missed a free throw that could have tied the game at 47. When the half ended, the wine and gold extended their lead to ten points, 62-52, meaning the Cavs outscored the Bulls 15-6 to close the half.
Only two of Chicago’s points came in the paint, Rose’s layup with 11 seconds left.
The defense continued in the third quarter, as the Bulls mustered just ten points in the first eight minutes. By then, the Cavaliers had scored 24 points and Cleveland had an 86-62 lead and the game was effectively over. And since the series shifts to Cleveland for game 5 on Tuesday, the series ended as well.
The rest of the game was anti-climatic, except for a little blip early in the fourth quarter with LeBron James on the bench. Mike Brown quickly put James back in, and that was that. As it was, James played just 36 minutes, and totally dominated, scoring 37 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Antawn Jamison threw in his array of jump shots and strange looking shots to pitch in with 24 points.
Mo Williams had a strong game, shooting 6 of 10 from the floor, scoring 19 points, and Anthony Parker was assertive early on and wound up with 12.
Brown decided to give J.J. Hickson minutes instead of Zydrunas Ilgauskas to be more athletic, and though he didn’t have an impact on Joakim Noah, who had 21 points and 20 boards, he did pitch in with 10 points off the bench.
Rose scored 21 points as well, but much like his effort in the first game, he needed 20 shots to get them. Kirk Hinrich could not repeat his game 3 shooting, hitting just 3 of 13 from the floor. In all, the Bulls shot just 37% from the field, and hit just 4 of 12 threes.
Cleveland took 25 three-point shots, which is more than they should be taking, but they hit 12, a very good percentage.
It appears the loss in Game 3 was the slap in the face that the Cavs needed. They played with playoff intensity on Sunday. Now, they come home to hopefully finish out the series in five games. This has been a tougher series than expected, and it is just the beginning. Don’t expect a lack of focus from here on out.
JK
Cleveland Sports Perspective 